VIOLET SKY, takigawa chris yuu

━ chapter twelve

act i

this shouldn't be happening.
( oh but it is. )

chapter twelve

❛he was checking you out the entire game❜

━━━━━━

"How's your friend? The boy?"

She pauses before touching the brush to the canvas. The half-shaded eyes of Stamp peer back at her curiously.

"He is . . . okay," she says slowly, glancing over her shoulder. The class is empty — Fukai had an emergency meeting with the other teachers and he left her here, since she'd already settled into a good pace with the oil painting.

"Okay? Is that all?" Eiko asks, voice pleasant but clearly trying to hint at something.

After adjusting the mic of her earbuds, Amara sighs quietly and resumes painting. The smell of oil paint is thick but the air conditioner chugs along, cold air touching the nape of her neck, circulating the air in the room safely. Following Fukai's advice, after school she put her hair into a bun then changed into a ratty white t-shirt she's had since middle school and a pair of equally ratty sweats — clothes she wouldn't mind getting dirty. By this point, her t-shirt has flecks and spots of oil paint on it, along with her sweats.

"There's not much else to tell," she says at last, not lying exactly but not telling the full truth. "He took everything you got."

She hums softly. "That's good. I'm glad he's feeling better," she pauses and Amara squints at the canvas, feeling like she's about to say something she's not going to like. "I guess I won't try to walk around it — are you, by any chance, talking to him? In a less platonic manner?"

She chews at the inside of her cheek. You have no idea.

It's been two days since his . . . confession. She's about three quarters of the way done with the oil painting — a replica of the sketch she did of his cat, except with proper colors — and it's done well to keep her mind off him.

Amara is not avoiding it. Him. Making a decision.

She already made a decision. She thinks she made one that Wednesday, agreed to a tentative foray into a relationship with him — the words sends shivers down her spine — but the extra time helped her settle with what exactly she wants.

She wants to know him.

Maybe that was already going to be a part of their relationship process but laying it all out there like groundwork, the terms and conditions to the agreement, it helps her keep her head on straight.

Which is a rare occurrence when it comes to him.

That's another thing. She wants to keep her footing. She doesn't want to feel like she's drifting out to sea, lost forever, or like she's drowning — no matter how pleasant he makes those experiences. Maybe her lack of steadiness makes for some novelty in the beginning, but she would hate for this to turn bad if he gets a different idea.

Though the idea seems far-fetched, because it's Chris.

The only problem she faces now is Eiko.

"He actually told me he liked me on Wednesday," she reveals.

Eiko gasps loudly and she winces. "Really? That's wonderful, Amara. That is good news, right?"